


Heat

by ownedbyacat



Series: Rise as One [5]
Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-22
Updated: 2015-08-22
Packaged: 2018-04-16 15:03:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4629744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ownedbyacat/pseuds/ownedbyacat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even when apart, Changmin and Yunho are as bad as each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heat

"No, no… not like this. Changmin-ssi, please, focus. I know you can do better than that!" The director was near tears after what felt like the dozenth NG of the afternoon. Some had been due to aircraft noise. Others had been caused by missed steps or stumbles during the fight scenes they were filming. By far the most NGs had been down to Changmin. Which, given the meticulous care and preparation the idol lavished on his role, was more than a little unusual. He stepped close, almost into Changmin's space and lowered his voice. "What is it about this scene that makes it so difficult to get right, Changmin-ssi? Is there any way I can help clarify your character's motivation?"

Changmin couldn't look at the man. "Sorry, director-nim," he muttered, head down. "The heat. I will work harder."

The man stepped back and Changmin felt the assessing gaze on his face. "Take ten minutes, everyone. And please make sure there's enough ice water. And fans," he instructed his assistant.

Changmin sighed and moved away. His costume lay across his shoulders as if it weighed a ton. His steps dragged when he stopped concentrating. The layers of makeup had a hard time hiding his exhaustion. He knew it, because he'd been told it over and over while the stylists readied him for his scenes. He couldn't help it. It was too hot to sleep at night, even with the aircon turned down as low as it would go. It was too hot to focus when he was awake. He could feel rivers of sweat running down his back and soaking his hair while the air moved like hot soup around him.

It was the heat that sapped his strength and concentration. The heat, and knowing that Yunho's training was relentlessly physical and had progressed to long marches with heavy packs.

"He's going to be fine," a deep voice said beside him and a dewy bottle of water appeared in his line of sight.

Changmin took the bottle and resisted the urge to roll it over his cheeks and forehead. He was causing enough trouble this day. No need to piss off the stylists, too. "Can't hide from you, can I?" he said as he broke the seal and drank.

"I've known you both for far too long, Changmin-ah," Myunghwan replied as Changmin had known he would. It was true, too.

"It's so hot," Changmin explained, even though there was no need. "And he forgets to drink."

"It's the army, Changmin-ah. Your first duty as a soldier is to ensure that you're fit to fight. They'll be reminded to drink while they're training."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Besides, you know what he's like when he has a bunch of people around him. He'll be the one who looks after them all."

"That's what I'm worried about," Changmin mumbled. As if it wasn't hot enough already, he could feel his ears heat in embarrassment. It was childish and selfish and he'd never mention it to anyone, but he wanted Yunho to look after him, fuss over him, the same way he looked out for and fussed over Yunho.

"There's no need for that," the man chastised him. "Yunho has the memory of an elephant. And he has the heart to look after a stadium full of people and still know, every second of every moment, where you are and what you're doing."

"I know," Changmin sighed, his embarrassment fading. He did know. And he was just the same. On stage, in interviews, during shoots… without him being aware of it, his head turned automatically to where Yunho should be. "It's just… I worry."

"He was just the same when you went to do the police exam," Papa Bear pointed out. "It was hot as Hades and he fretted about you passing out in that airless sports hall, or spoiling your test or the physical…"

"We're pathetic is what you're saying, right?"

"You're close is what I'm saying," Myunghwan replied and took the empty water bottle from Changmin when the director called time. "And as bad as each other with your protective ways. Neither of you will change, just because you have to be apart for a while. You make sure you do your job well and look after yourself, Changmin-ah. And wherever he is, Yunho will do the same."

***

Yunho wiped the sweat from his face and adjusted the pack across his back. They were almost at the turning point of their march and the promise of fresh cold water from a stream and ten minutes rest in the shade was very appealing. The air around him wavered in the heat and sweat ran in streams from his temples to his jaw. Hair… he really wanted his hair back. Or a bandana.

When Changmin had to wear his hair long, he used to bitch endlessly over the way the sweaty strands stuck to his neck and trapped the heat against his skin. For a little wile Yunho distracted himself by wondering how Changmin would deal with a shaved head. And how he would look. Most likely even more amazing than he did now. Those cheekbones and the bambi eyes would literally be all you'd see… Yunho hoped that they'd get to meet when they were on leave from their respective postings. He needed to see that version of Changmin live and in colour. Not just in the odd photo on IG.

Yunho definitely felt more comfortable with decent hair. The shaved head made him look like a thug. Maybe his manager should find him a gangster film to play in when he came back.

_You… as a gangster? You're a marshmallow!_

He didn't need to talk to Changmin to hear the derision at his idea. He'd never believed that Yunho could look properly menacing. Maybe he needed to play a reformed character… and Changmin could be the valiant detective gangster!Yunho saved from being killed by the mob, because… because…

"Ten minutes, everyone! Don't forget to drink and refill your canteens!"

The voice cut through his imaginings and the formation around him came to a halt. They were in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees and beside a stream. Yunho soaked his hat in the cold water. He wanted to soak his whole uniform, really, but he knew better than that. A heavy pack, rubbing on heavy, wet fabric… he'd have no skin left on his shoulders by the time they made it back to base.

He wiped the hat over his head and neck, shrugged his pack off and stretched out in the shade, flexing and relaxing his aching muscles. It was a familiar routine and it settled him.

"What's with the frown?" one of his comrades asked and Yunho found something to interest him amongst the mosses and ferns he'd thrown himself into.

"Nothing," he mumbled, keeping his head turned away. "Just… worried. A bit."

"What about? You've passed every test with flying colours."

"Not about myself," Yunho admitted. "Changmin hates the heat. Doesn't deal with it very well at all. And his schedule this month is insane."

"Worse than ours?"

"Our schedule?" Yunho sat up and scrunched his brows together. "What we're doing here, you mean? That's not a schedule. That's a holiday camp." He considered the exhausted faces around him and shrugged a little apologetically. "Sorry, but… we get regular meals and eight hours sleep every night. We even have private time every day. I can't remember the last time that was part of my life. And Min's filming and doing promotions for both of us and…"

"But you said you have managers and staff and people," one of the youngest members of their team spoke up. "They'll look after him, right?"

"Yeah. I'm sure they will." He sank back into the greenery and closed his eyes. Of course their staff would look after Changmin, but Changmin was good at hiding. Headaches, hunger pangs, anger, even embarrassment… Changmin didn't like to ask for things. He rather went without. And Yunho hated that.

"I read on a fansite that Changmin-ssi always worries about you, hyung," the kid's voice came again. "They should have written that you're both as bad as each other. Because he's probably annoying everyone worrying about you and here you are…"

The little shit was almost as annoying as Changmin. But he had a point.

"Jung - get your ass in gear!" their instructor yelled when Yunho took a moment too long to rise from his sprawl and step into line. "What the fuck do you think this is? A holiday camp?"

The snickers around him did much to make him feel better.


End file.
